Letters to the Editors
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Subject: First Drive — 2005 Porsche Boxster
From: James

This message is in regards to John DiPietro's article on the 2005 Porsche Boxster. In the first paragraph he attempts to explain the origins of the car's name, he is not correct. The word "boxer" in the German language means opposing. The car gets its name from the combination of that word and speedster. While your explanation might fool most of the people who read this site, you would embarrass yourself at a party with your trivia against someone who knows anything about Porsches.

Otherwise I did enjoy the article. The new 997 is a dream and the "S" has an exhaust that sounds better then the sport exhaust option I have on my 996. My fiancée can't wait to upgrade her Boxster, hopefully I can put it off another year.

Road Test Editor John DiPietro responds: Before you embarrass yourself at the next Porsche club cocktail party, you may want to check your "facts" and learn the proper use of the words "then" and "than." The German word for "opposing" is "gegnerisch," not "boxer" which has the same translation for both languages. The Boxster's name (OK, the first half anyway) comes from the "Boxer" nickname for the engine. Why Boxer? Because in engines with a horizontally opposed cylinder design, the pistons' action mimics a boxer's punching. As for the second half of the car's name, it is actually taken from roadster, not speedster as you claim. And yes, that's the part that I left out in my article. Lastly, as an astute colleague of mine pointed out, you have your internal model designations wrong — 997 stands for the new 911 and 996 is the previous generation. The designations for the Boxster are 987 (2005) and 986 (prior models).

Subject: Foreign Cars
From: Zev

I don't know why you promote vehicles that are made by foreign-owned companies. They are for sure not as good as vehicles made by U.S.-owned auto manufacturers.

I've been in the auto business all my life and foreign cars just cost way more to keep up than the average American car or truck. Bad steel in the bodies; bad cast in the engines; warped heads; rotting out control arms. I can go on and on.

Why don't you get real and know what is really going on out there?

Cadillac CTS and SRX are the very best of all the cars now. Look at the Chevy Lumina, the best vehicle in its class ever; the same with Chevy Impalas old or new. Lincolns all have been good. Ford with the Explorer, Crown Vic. Same for Mercury with the same vehicles.

Be a loyal American.

We started to write a response, but we couldn't think of anything that the absurdity of your comments didn't already prove. — Ed.

Subject: Twinned Vehicles
From: Benee

I thought your article, "Twinned Vehicles," was fantastic! I've actually won a couple of friendly wagers because of your article.

Question: Are you planning to issue a new list for the 2005 lines?

I just recently purchased the "Poor Man's Cadillac EXT": a Chevy Avalanche.

Have a great New Year and keep up the good work!

As long as there are twins, we'll keep the list going. — Ed.

Subject: Most Wanted List
From: Irene

It is obvious to me that you need more input from females as to what are the better values. Since I have been writing reviews with my family for over 15 years, you might want to consider having us provide you some counterbalance to your selections.

For example, you selected the Honda Odyssey as the best van. Yes, it handles better, but the Dodge/Chrysler is much more family-friendly and the Toyota is more parking lot-friendly. As for station wagons, you did not select the Legacy. Although the Dodge is a better value, it has major visibility problems, is difficult to park due to its bulk and the rear hatch is nearly impossible to pull down without grabbing the wiper.

In other words, your choices seem to be oriented more toward performance and less toward those elements the majority of potential buyers are searching for when they make a decision.

If you would like to see our on-line reviews please let me know.

If you think the only reason we like the Odyssey has to do with its handling you need to read our first drive and our Most Wanted article again. We try not to let any one element rule our Most Wanted voting, and that includes the "easy to park" element. — Ed.

Subject: 2005 Editors' Most Wanted
From: Kevin

I wanted to bring up the fact that your 2005 list (and previous versions) is very misleading in respect to price levels of vehicles. The Chrysler 300 can be had for less than $25K only if it has the lowest trim level (wimpy base six-cylinder engine and cloth interior). When equipped in that manner it is not the best choice for under $25K. The Hemi-equipped version with leather, etc., that has been "Car of the Year" for many publications, runs around $37K and that would move it up to the next category. Also, the BMW 3 Series wins both sedan and coupe for under $35K but what BMW 330 could be had for under $35K? Basically, the whole list is set up for the lowest trim line but the editors mention costlier, higher-performance versions in the review section.

There is no perfect method for categorizing cars. Between options, regional market demand and individual negotiating skills it's almost impossible to accurately break all cars down by transaction cost. Using base MSRP is as close to consistency as you'll get — so that's the system we use. — Ed.

Subject: Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars
From: Alexander

It seems that you omitted from your Top 10 Most Fuel-Efficient Cars for 2005 list, whether intentionally or otherwise, the recently introduced Americanized smart car from Zap. My understanding is that this car, while not even a hybrid, still achieves almost 60 mpg. I'd say that's pretty fuel-efficient. Was there a reason for not including it on your list?

Although the smart has been approved for sale in the U.S., it's not yet available so it was omitted from the list. — Ed.

Subject: "How to Share the Road with Truckers"
From: Dru

As a wife of a trucker, it amazes me how biased so many in the media as well as the general public are against truckers yet fail to realize how much of what they own, or otherwise consume in daily life comes to them via truck(s). The only thing that surprised me in your article was the percentage of what is transported by truck. I would think that would be much higher even if trucks were not the only form of transportation in the distribution chain.

Another thing that people fail to realize is that truckers along with their families drive passenger vehicles like everybody else when not in their trucks, and are therefore at the same risk(s) as everybody else.

Thanks for the article and a little validation in the process. It's nice to see some positive recognition for trucking! Would love to see more of it!

Subject: "Satellite Radio: XM vs. Sirius"
From: Steve

I enjoyed your review of the two competing satellite radio services. As a longtime subscriber to both services, I can agree with many of your points regarding the advantages of Sirius' content and packaging.

Unfortunately, if you are a consistent Sirius listener, you'll notice that the playlists are painfully short. It's difficult to listen to Sirius' music channels for any extended period of time without hearing the same song played several times. XM's musical selections are much deeper, and I'm constantly surprised (and delighted) by the music played on XM.

Sirius also shifts bandwidth away from its talk channels, resulting in a sound quality that is difficult to listen to, and is almost embarrassingly bad compared to the wonderful quality of the music channels.

After almost two years of comparison, I've chosen XM as my default listening choice for its deeper playlists and more consistent sound quality.

Subject: "Plug-n-Play"
From: Seth

This is regarding the Plug-N-Play article by Dan Kahn.

The article mentions the following:

"Nissan quickly followed suit, and aftermarket stereo manufacturer Alpine now offers several systems that allow iPod compatibility."

I am unable to find any iPod solutions provided directly from Nissan themselves — can the author of this article please clarify/expand? I would certainly appreciate it!

Road Test Editor Dan Kahn responds: Apple announced at the annual MacWorld Expo in San Francisco that it had reached agreements with Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Mercedes-Benz, Nissan and Volvo to develop universal iPod integration solutions for an array of different makes and models. Mercedes and Volvo followed up the announcement with news that their adapters would be available by mid-April, and we expect Nissan will follow shortly thereafter. In the meantime, check out our 2005 Consumer Electronics Show coverage or go to www.ipod2car.com to find out about a new universal iPod car stereo adapter that plugs into the CD changer port on the back of your stereo.